Which Beach Music Artist would you want to see?
by Bo the Webguy
There have been posts on social media sites like facebook remembering times the way they were back when…. A lot of great pictures from the past have been posted and shared. I personally have had quite a few laughs at some of the pictures I have seen from the promo posters used by the booking agencies and bands. Have you seen those pictures of the Band of Oz at CarolinaBeachMusic.com?
I am a little younger than the beach music fans that recall the days of going to the beach to see the bands that played the music that was not played on the radio. Mike Worley and I were talking and thought it would be cool to hear from you. What show you would choose if you could go and see anyone in the beach music world at any time in history?
For the last several years, Shag City USA and Zeus Digital Marketing have been shooting a lot of interviews from some of the current artists, club owners and beach music promoters. The “Where it All Began with H Lee Brown” show has also brought back memories from “how it was back then”. With all of this video content, Shag City will soon be working on a documentary series for Carolina Beach Music. Of course, some of those stories have
brought back some great memories. For some of us younger guys, we simply think, “I wish I could have seen that!”
Can you imagine being able to go see one more Chairmen of the Board show at the House of Blues in North Myrtle Beach? Maybe you would like to see an Embers show at the Embers Club in Raleigh, a Band of Oz show with Butch Barnes on Saxophone, a Fantastic Shakers show with Dino Fair on the keyboard, one more Breeze show with Dink Perry on lead vocals, Bill Deal & the Rhondels at the Peppermint Beach Club in Virginia Beach, or Billy Scott dancing across the stage one more time with The Prophets.
I know a lot of people out there have similar memories that they would like to go back to… or witness first hand a story of the old groups back in the day. As we hear from you, Mike will be mentioning some of these on the Edge Radio Show today on Shag City USA.
Get on The Edge Radio Show at 9AM
Without getting into the heated discussion of “What is” and “What is not Beach Music”, please tell us which beach music artist or group you would love to go see if time and travel was not an issue.
Would love to go back to the early 60’s and hear the Catalinas perform again at The Myrtle Beach Pavilion. Saw them 3 nights in a row, full house for every show. They were great then and still are today.
I would also love to go back and see the first time Jim Quick & Coastline opened for Delbert McClinton at the House of Blues.
I would love to go back to Williams Lake in the 60’s and see the Pieces Of Eight swing from the rafters one more time. I would also like to see the Men Of Distinction at the “Lake” again.
Would love to go back to see Bill Deal and The Rhondels at the Peppermint Beach Club….Virginia Beach
Never saw them then, but would love to have seen the Swingin Medallions during the “Double Shot’ era….
I would love to go back to the day at Tanglewood in Clemmons NC late summer of 1988 I believe, when the Chairman of the Board opened up for the Beach Boys and did a great job. When the Beach Boys came out and sang the crowd was huge. When they sang “I Wish they all could be California Girls”, the crowd sang “Carolina Girls” and the band stopped and shared that was not the way the song went. The crowd continued saying Carolina Girls and the Beach Boys were not happy. What a day!!
That would have been really cool! What a great memory! I loved how the General would make fun of the Beach Boys and say how they didn’t play “Beach Music”
Suggestions from various threads on Facebook:
Billy Stewart
General Norman Johnson
The Tams with Joe and Charles Pope
The Catalinas in the 60s
Gene Barbour & the Cavaliers
Jackie Gore with The Embers
Bill Deal
Temptations
Junior Walker
Floor Shows of Band of Oz, The Embers and Fantastic Shakers
Otis Redding
James Brown
Booker T and MGs anywhere.
More Groups Posted on Facebook Comments:
The Poor Souls
Doug Clark
The Original Temptations
Dink Perry and The Breeze Band
Spontanes
Fabulous Kays from the 90’s
The Showmen
Bob Collins and The Fabulous Five
Some commented with groups that are still playing and can be seen today
Fantastic Shakers
Jim Quick & Coastline
Band of Oz
The Entertainers
Chairman of the Board
The Embers
Band of Oz
North Tower
The Entertainers Fantastic Shakers
Rickey Godfrey
Rick Strickland
Billy Bazemore fronting Band of Oz and opening up with “Higher and Higher”
General Johnson & The Chairmen in the late 80’s at the Metrolina Fairgrounds in Charlotte. That’s what got me to fall in Love with Carolina Beach Music. Seeing General getting 10,000+ people to dangle their strings and Danny getting the whole audience to do the funky chicken!!! General was and will always be the King of Swing!!
No Doubt! He was and IS the KING!
Bill Deal and The Rhondells would be my first choice, saw The Pieces Of Eight in 1966 or 67 at a skating rink in Smithfield,N.C.
General Johnson with Danny Woods and Ken Knox……